February fourteenth. Valentine’s Day. A day where shops across the country are suddenly stacked high with loving cards, bumper boxes of chocolate, bouquets of red roses and teddy bears wearing t-shirts covered with cheesy messages.
Some of us look forward to February 14th as an opportunity to enjoy our partner's company. But for others, it is a day of longing and desperation.
Moreover, Valentine’s Day can be considered as a commercialized holiday that can put unrealistic pressure on people’s relationships.
The focus on romantic love for Valentine’s Day erases the love we feel for others and also excludes people who don’t feel romantic attraction or who aren’t in romantic relationships. Romantic relationships are not the end-all-be-all of happiness: friendships result in companionship, stability and trust.
The love and stability that friends afford each other deserves to be celebrated as much as the love and stability afforded to significant others, and Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to show that appreciation, as the holiday is the celebration if love.
Valentine’s day celebrates love, and celebrations are better when more people can join the festivities, rather than being left alone. So make Valentine’s Day better and more inclusive by including friends, family and other loved ones in the holiday. Of course, if you don’t have a sweetheart to consider, you might as well use Valentine' as an excuse to buy something nice for yourself.
